HMS Explorer

Thursday 29th June - Inverness

Arriving at the Marina in Inverness was the culmination of a day and a half of travel for those of us on second leg. Our deployment had actually started the day before when we met for the journey up to Scotland.

Our first day on ship consisted of little more than settling in, aside from the poor students who had drawn first watch. Girls were delighted to be in forward accommodation, to the dismay of the boys who had enjoyed smugly informing the first years that 'forward accom always goes to us'. Once the politics of accommodation had been dealt with and the serious work of shopping for food had been sorted we were finally able to settle down for a pleasant evening social.

Friday 30th July - Inverness to Fort Augustus

The first weekend on ship was spent sailing down the Caledonian Canal, giving us the opportunity to see the beautiful Scottish countryside. Our first day took us down through Loch Dochfur and the iconic Loch Ness. In spite of our vigilance, we didn't get to see Nessie – perhaps the presence of two Royal Navy ships was too much for him. A false alarm had everyone scrambling to the lower bridge, but it was rapidly ascertained that our CO had ‘mistaken’ a seagull for the legendary creature, and order was disappointedly restored.

Loch Ness allowed HMS Explorer and HMS Example to come alongside each other and perform a RAS or Replenishment At Sea. We exchanged a bag filled with magazines and a paper for Hobnobs (considered a fair trade by the ships company, who were lucky enough to eat them!) using a rope and pulley system. The RAS came off well, and our ships company were pleased with the result. The passage through Loch Ness concluded in Fort William, where we were given the opportunity to exercise our teamwork skills through the locks. The locks at Fort William were among the first of the 29 locks along the Caledonian canal, and proved a tight squeeze with both P2000's in them; the fenders were in constant use.

Saturday 1st July - Fort Augustus to Corpach

Call the hands was at 0600, and on only the second day of such early rises there were a few disgruntled faces around mess square. We set sail at 1000 to tackle yet more locks on the Caledonian Canal. 4 locks and a swing bridge lead us to Loch Oich and the inventively named Loch Lochy.

Fred (the dummy) took a dip for a man-overboard exercise but was safely and lovingly rescued by the ship's company who shouted words of comfort to Fred in his time of need. Actual Fred (the WEO) briefed first years on the engines, whilst Spider (the Navs Yeo) taught 2nd years how to splice rope (some proving more adept than others).

The rest of the day ran smoothly with students rotating through the different tasks. It was a quick soup lunch before HMS Explorer descended Neptune's Staircase which unfortunately led to a spot of fishing when O/C Pearson spectacularly managed to knock Mid Munro-Faure's beret into the water when throwing a rope. We berthed in Corpach around 1800 and the day rounded off with a well-deserved steak and chips dinner.

Sunday 2nd July - Corpach to Dunstaffnage

News of a lie in was greeted with delight by the students. Call the hands was at 0700 which meant an extra hour of precious sleep. Once the ship was cleaned down and the Leaving Harbour Brief was complete, we prepared the ship for leaving Corpach. We sailed at 0900 through Loch Linnhy before navigating the Corran Narrows, a technical passage requiring a number of waypoints and precise navigation. The charts for the passage had been drawn up the previous two evenings, and we piloted the entire stretch to practice our skills.

After a final manoeuvre through the Lynn of Lorn, we berthed up at Dunstaffnage Marina with HMS Example moored outboard. We cleaned the ship and were shoreside by 1430, ready for a visit to Oban. We had secured a tour around Oban Whisky distillery and all enjoyed learning about how the Whisky was made. The highlight of the trip was the free sample of whiskey provided at the end of the tour for each student, kicking off the evening early.

A tour of the town revealed a pancake shop and sweet shop, as well as various pubs, catering for all the different tastes on board! However, we returned to the ships early in the evening, and concluded the day on the forecastle (or fo’c’sle) of HMS Example, watching the sunset and enjoying a spot of gentle fishing off the bow of Example (the start of a competitive war to catch the largest fish, eventually won by Mid Jackson with a 10" mackerel).

Monday 3rd July - Dunstaffnage to Cambeltown

A 0600 start meant that there were a few disgruntled faces around mess square table, but we were soon up and ready for a long day of sailing. Unfortunately the weather was not as good as the previous days, and a lot of people were left feeling sea sick. The passage was long, and everyone found it tiring. Luckily the rain held off and the day was spent working with our watches on radar, tactical communications, chart, helm and as officer of the watch.

The Gulf of Corryvreckan provided excitement as the weather made a turn for the worse. Drama unfolded halfway through our voyage when our accompanying ship, HMS Example, lost her starboard engine. Her crew were forced to sail on only the port engine, as they tried to fix the broken fan belt. Fortunately for the students from Northumbria URNU, her MEO was able to fix the problem - their deployment wasn't interrupted and they made it through 'the most dangerous stretch of water in the UK' safely.

However, the drama of the day had not finished for HMS Explorer, which received a Mayday Relay on behalf of a capsized dinghy as she was being brought into harbour. We turned about and headed towards the stricken vessel, along with HMS Ledbury (a Royal Navy Minesweeper that happened to be in the area). Luckily the person in distress made his way out of the water independently, and we returned to harbour.

The evening was spent in Cambletown, in a local pub, where a very competitive game of 'Killer Darts' took place, eventually won by our CO.

Tuesday 4th July - Cambeltown to Tarbert

A short passage to Tarbert went smoothly, although the weather was poor, leaving those students who were outboard handling the ropes waterlogged. Due to the length of the journey, watches were kept short, a relief for the students who were suffering from seasickness from the rough seas.

The highlight of the day was the RPC, a cocktail party hosted by HMS Explorer. The students from Yorkshire URNU decked the fo’c’sle with ceremonial flags and concocted a drink from a combination of alcohols, and invited the crew of HMS Example over.

'Booso Callapso' proved a great success, but sadly in the midst of the festivities, HMS Explorer's copy of 'Stuart Anderson' (a Sottish music artist from the 1980's) got misplaced. It's passing was mourned by several of the students ... And celebrated by the rest, who had endured it playing on repeat during the previous week.

The next day was spent in Tarbert Harbour, giving students the opportunity to look around the town. We were quick to take advantage of the lie in, returning to a student timetable of rising at 1100, to the chagrin of those on watch, who had to be up at 0800 for colours.

Thursday 6th July - Tarbert to Troon

An uneventful passage from Tarbert to Troon allowed those students nursing a headache from the previous night’s festivities to recover. Once berthed in Troon Marina, we were delighted to discover that the shower facilities had been recently refurbished, allowing us to get off the ship and use a more spacious shower. We spent the evening in a local bar with the students from HMS Example, before returning to the ship for bed.

Friday 7th July - Troon to Glasgow

Our CO organised a mine clearing exercise to give us the opportunity to experience an exercise which is often crucial to the success of a mission in the RN. We were each given a role to carry out, and had to handle difficulties such as flooding, fire, and medical emergencies, whilst the navigation crew were taking 30 second fixes on the poloris.

Unfortunately, Mids Munro-Faure, Wilson, Grosset and Knight led the ship off course and causing us to 'blow up' our ship, however we were left with a great respect for the work of serving personnel and a greater understanding of what the Royal Navy has to face.

A competitive game of the traditional ‘Ships Cluedo’ was launched, with Mid Thexton the first to be caught out and ‘murdered’ by the CO using a stool in his cabin. Suspicion was rife on the ship, as people watched for unusual requests in case they were being tricked into co-operation in their own demise.

That evening we discovered that the Waverley, the last sea going paddle steamer in the UK, was berthed nearby, and a few of us chose to go on a trip down the river on her. The crew was very accommodating, providing us with a tour of the ship and answering any questions we had. We all enjoyed the break from operating a ship ourselves, and relaxed with a drink for the journey!

Saturday 8th July - Glasgow to Greenock

A quick passage to Greenock took us along the route we sailed on the Waverley, and past the Navy’s two newest destroyers, HM Ships Dragon and Duncan berthed along the river. An uneventful sail had us quickly berthed alongside in Greenock, and once the ship was secure, we set to exploring the attractions of the Tall Ships Race, which would be at Greenock for a few days.

We remained alongside Greenock for three days, allowing us to explore the tall ships also berthed there, which were open to visitors during the day. Our second evening was spent at Mess Dinner, where we said goodbye to our Commanding Officer, who was handing over command to Lt. Dafydd Bryden.

The next day we said goodbye to Lt. Jonathan Bannister, rowing him ashore for the last time in the traditional Navy way, and welcomed Lt. Bryden onboard as the new Commanding Officer of Yorkshire URNU. Our final day in Greenock was spent relaxing on ship, although a few of us went to the local cinema to watch the latest Transformers movie.

Tuesday 11th July - Greenock to Kyle of Lochalsh

On departing Greenock, several of us lined up on the fo'c’sle to salute a ship carrying a commodore. Whilst we were waiting we were treated to a front row view of a magnificent display by the Red Arrows, who were demonstrating at Greenock.

Originally our plan for the day had been to sail back to Cambeltown, spend the evening there and then sail to Kyle of Lochalsh the next day. However, after a brief stop in Cambeltown to refuel, our CO decided to conduct a RASON (remain at sea overnight), and so we continued onto Kyle of Lochalsh once we had refuelled. We went into defence watches so that we could get some sleep overnight - this meant that whilst one watch was on, the other watch got their heads down, and every 6 hours the watches switched.

Unfortunately, HMS Explorer lost her starboard engine partway through the night, meaning that we had to sail the rest of the night on our port engine. This didn't damp our spirits, however, and the opportunity to watch the sun rise over the Isle of Skye was incredible. In spite of the lack of sleep we were all fairly upbeat (supplemented by the arrival of bacon sandwiches and constant supply of tea throughout the night!) and were berthed alongside Kyle of Lochalsh at 0800.

This early arrival meant that we had the whole day to ourselves, which many of us promptly chose to interpret as 'go back to bed'. We gave the afternoon over to cleaning the ship in preparation for Captain’s Rounds the next day, and hunting down our belongings ready for the journey back home.